Vol. 466 No. 4
280 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the efforts, if any, that were made to save the Derry to Dublin flights from Englington Airport in view of the fact that it was a vital link for the people in north Donegal to the capital. [11448/96]
281 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the efforts, if any, being made to resume an airlink from Derry to Dublin to facilitate a vital connection from the extreme north of the country to the main centre for tourists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11449/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 280 and 281 together.
Between 1981 and November 1988, a number of private air carriers — Avair, Aer Arann, Shannon Executive Aviation and Iona National Airways — operated scheduled air services on the Dublin-Derry route, using small aircraft, and on the basis of an Exchequer subsidy. Despite the subsidy each of the companies involved reported losses on the route. The then Government decided in July 1988 to terminate the subsidy when the then existing contract with Iona National Airways was due to expire in May 1989. However, Iona withdrew from the services in November 1988 due to mounting losses.
In October 1989 Aer Lingus commenced a daily service on the Derry-Dublin route without a subsidy. Aer Lingus subsequently reduced its operations on the route to twice weekly in November 1991 and the service was completely withdrawn in April 1992 due to poor performance.
Most recently, services on the Dublin-Derry route were provided by Jersey European Airways as part of a triangular service linking Derry with Belfast and Dublin. These services operated twice daily between the three cities from May 1995 to October 1995 when the company withdrew the services operating to and from Dublin for commercial reasons.
The Deputy will appreciate that under Single Market rules all licensed EU air carriers are free to provide services on any international route within the Union without Government control. The question as to whether an airline wishes to inaugurate services or to withdraw services on a particular route is entirely a matter for the airline to decide on the basis of its commercial judgment.
